On Monday the company had its meat production licence partially restored, allowing it to produce minced meat, sausages and ready made dishes made from fresh meat. However, the company has been told it must not handle or make any food from frozen products.

The temporary suspension of the company's trading licence last week threatened to throw 300 staff out of work.

"At this stage 80% of the [company's] stocks of all meat has been verified and the work is continuing on the remaining 20%. The complete and definitive report on the inquiry will be published on Friday," Stephane Le Foll, the French agriculture minister, said on Monday.

He said there were "sufficient elements" to allow the company to partially restart trading.

"Do you think I would authorise such an action, if I had the slightest doubt?" he told French journalists.

Workers' unions at the Spanghero plant in Castelnaudary in the Aude region had lobbied President François Hollande's Socialist government for the return of the company's meat handling licence. Union leaders had argued that the trading in meat products was separate from the production of food at the plant.

On Sunday the French agriculture ministry said in a statement that it "distinguishes responsibility for what seems to be the actions of Spanghero's leaders from the work of its employees".

It however added that there was "serious, precise and corroborating evidence of a consumer fraud at a European level". Last week the government presented the results of its initial inquiry into Spanghero's operations. It concluded that the company had knowingly sold 750 tons of horsemeat mislabelled as beef over a period of six months.

The horsemeat is believed to have been used in 4.5m ready made meals in 13 European countries.

With the Europewide scandal over the contamination of meat products, from beefburgers to lasagne, showing no sign of abating, study the issue in depth and learn all you need to know about how it came to this with our essential guide